Southern Comfort (7/?)

Author- Midnight Faith

Spoilers- none

Distribution- FF.net, AOH anyone else just ask :)

Pairing- Lilah/Lindsey

Rating- PG-13

Summary- Lindsey has to make a decision for Lilah

Disclaimer- not mine… yadda, yadda

Cordelia could have sworn Lindsey broke unequivocal laws of physics racing to St. Mark's hospital at the crossroads of Maywood and Bell in LA's central district.

He leapt out of his car on locating a parking space, not for the world caring that his car was neither locked or within the boundaries of the bay.

As Cordelia watched him race towards the glass-doored entrance to the emergency room, she found herself shaking at the potential prospects that awaited them once they actually got inside.

She jogged cautiously behind him at a moderate pace, unease making her fall back a little, but always keeping him within her line of sight.

By the time Cordelia managed to catch up with him, she saw he'd seen Gavin out of the corner of his eye, leaning casually against the wall of one of the white washed by corridors that branched off from the main waiting area.

Within seconds, and with a force that made her take a step backwards in apprehension, he'd pinned Gavin roughly against the wall, Lindsey's forearm holding Gavin in place by the throat.

"What happened to her?" Lindsey asked Gavin, his voice dangerously low, eyes brimming with menacing anger.

"Lindsey…" Cordelia tried to reason with him calmly, trying to pull his arm off Gavin's throat. But if anything his rage made him stronger and she was unsuccessful.

"What happened to her?" he repeated, voice dripping with venom.

"I don't know," Gavin managed to choke out.

Lindsey ripped his arm away from Gavin's larynx.

"Cyril found her this morning… I don't know what happened to her," Gavin told him, his voice heartlessly calm.

"I swear to God if anything happens to her I'll be holding you personally responsible…" Lindsey vowed.

"Lindsey…" Cordelia said, more impatiently this time, taking hold of his arm and pulling him away from Gavin so they stood on the other side of the corridor.

Looking back at Lindsey, she walked the few short steps back over to Gavin.

"Is she in that room?" she gestured to the door beside Gavin.

He nodded.

Cordelia walked calmly back over to Lindsey who'd been staring murderously at Gavin from the opposite side of the hallway.

"Stop it," she warned him, "Lilah needs you to be placid and objective right now… not in jail for assault…"

The door opened aside Gavin and a doctor in a stereotypical white coat walked out, shutting the door behind him.

"Is she OK? Can I see her?" Lindsey gushed, almost incoherently.

"Are you family?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," he lied convincingly, "Is she OK?"

"She's going to be fine," the doctor reassured him, "We'll need to keep her in overnight for observation."

Relief flooded Lindsey's face.

"I just need you to step this way and answer a few questions," the doctor asked him, "Then you can see her."

Lindsey looked back helplessly at the door before following the doctor into a small side waiting room.

The doctor closed the door behind them and gestured for Lindsey to sit down in one of the chair against the wall.

What is it?" he asked the doctor fearfully.

"She's fine…" the doctor reassured him, "I just thought there was something you should know…" The doctor paused. "This is strictly off the record but I see a lot of… odd things come from a place like Wolfram and Hart. We ran some tests on Lilah when she came in and we found a large amount of the sedative diazepam in her blood… three times the amount of a regular Valium user. So I just wanted to say informally just between us that maybe she was given it… maybe completely unwittingly dissolved in a hot drink of some kind perhaps…"

"So what you're saying is someone tried to kill her?"

"No, you see the person that may have administered this to her obviously knew exactly what they were doing… They gave her the exact amount to knock her unconscious but under a fifth of what would be required to kill her. Anyway we've given her Dexedrine to neutralise the effect of the sedatives and you'll be able to take her home tomorrow morning."

"Can I see her now?" he asked.

"Sure. Just be warned she's in and out of it a lot… she's bound to be a little drowsy for a while… anyway any ideas… say the diazepam was administered by an outside source who it may have been?"

"A few…"

*****

"What are you doing here?" Lindsey asked as Cordelia came into Lilah's room an hour later, carrying two cups of steaming black coffee in polystyrene cups, "I thought you were clearing out Lilah's apartment."

"Got Wes and Gun on it," she said, sitting down on an uncomfortable plastic chair beside Lindsey, handing him one of the cups of coffee. "Don't worry I've left them detailed instructions… giant cupboard of shoes first… I counted thirty pairs, Versace suits second, wide screen TV and DVD player third…" she gestured to Lilah still unconscious, "Did she wake up yet?"

Lindsey shook his head.

"I don't expect her to for a while… I mean Gavin Park gave her four times the amount of the drug she was taking…"

"You don't know it was him," Cordelia said neutrally.

"Oh, I *know* it was him," Lindsey told her, the anger rising in his veins. "I mean the doctors say it's like she's just asleep."

"Can she hear us?" Cordy asked a little tentatively.

"They say she can… and that I should talk to her… but how am I supposed to hold a one way conversation? I mean at least when I worked with her she would reply… not always in a nice way…"

"Did you guys used to fight a lot?" Cordy asked gently.

"All the time," Lindsey laughed bitterly; "I never really meant any of it… I wish I could tell her that…"

"Hey," Cordy put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You'll be able to… you'll have plenty of time… if she can hear us she can sense you too… I know she knows you’re here… so what did you tell Gavin that requires an apartment blitz?"

"I told him it was over. Lilah's out of Wolfram and Hart. I figured it was probably safest to get her out of the apartment they gave her before they burn it to the ground… it's time to make a clean break…"

"Two possible redemptionists in the hotel…" Cordelia mused aloud.

"Really? You’re cool with us staying at the hotel? Lindsey asked.

Cordy nodded.

"But what about Angel?" he asked.

They watched Lilah stir slightly.

Lindsey stood and leaned across her stroking her hair down, noticing a nasty purple bruise appearing at her right temple.

"Lilah. Can you hear me?" he asked her softly.

"Did I dream it or did I lose everything?" she asked him.

"You didn't lose everything," Lindsey told her soothingly, "You've still got me."

"Or the vast majority of your highly designer stuff," Cordy chipped in, "I've got a swat team rescuing your boraccis."

She tried opening her eyes against the light, but shut them again, hissing at the pain, her hand flying to the source of the problem. The cut on her temple ached at her touch, as Lindsey moved her hand away gently letting her fingers curl around his thumb. He didn't move out of her grip and she didn't protest when he sat on the edge of her bed.

"Go home," Lilah told Lindsey disjointedly, "I'll be OK here… and Cordelia just dump my stuff in a motel somewhere."

"No!" Lindsey and Cordelia both said in unison.

"I'm not leaving you!" Lindsey said defensively.

"I'm not leaving designer stuff in some fleabag motel!" Cordelia complained.

"Cordelia…" Lilah began.

"Don't," Cordy cut her off, "The time for horribly awkward apologies will come. And saying sorry won't exactly cut it this time… But I guess as part of Angel Investigations I've sworn to help the helpless… I guess you now qualify…"